Digg Previews its RSS Reader – Will Be Available Before Google Reader’s Demise

The race to become the next Google Reader is on and the contenders are lining up. Early entrants such as Feedly, are steadily building a following. The rumor mill has it that Facebook’s mysterious upcoming announcement will be the addition of RSS reader functionality to Facebook. Now Digg, the once great social news site, has thrown its hat into the ring and given us a glimpse of its new feed reader for the web and smart phones.

In a blog post Digg laid out the release schedule for its RSS app, just squeaking in before Google Reader’s end:

And so next week we will begin rolling out Digg Reader, version 1. We’re doing the launch in phases because, as you might have guessed, RSS aggregation is a hard thing to do at scale, and we want to make sure the experience is as fast and reliable as possible. Everyone will have access by June 26th. With all this in mind, we thought now would be a good moment to come up for air and share a little bit about the product you’ll see next week, and what else we’ll be adding over the next few months.

The reader looks good. It’s simple and clean like Google Reader and has basically the same features (or will soon, as features are still being added). The reader will be “freemium”, meaning some features will be paid. What will fall into the paid category wasn’t explained but the blog post assures potential users that, “All of the features introduced next week, as well as many others yet to come, will be part of the free experience.”

Google Reader, the search giant’s much-loved RSS reader, will shut down on July 1st, 2013. Digg’s replacement is looking good, as are plenty of other options. Whichever you choose, make sure to take care of it soon and get all your Google Reader subscriptions transferred over. It’s the Final Countdown!